


I'm Not the One (That's Gonna Die)

by Saiyangirl692



Series: Jackass [4]
Category: Archer (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 09:57:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20619143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saiyangirl692/pseuds/Saiyangirl692
Summary: Everything changes, and yet remains.





	I'm Not the One (That's Gonna Die)

I'm Not the One (That's Gonna Die)

Sterling Archer/Barry Dylan

“Everything changes and yet remains,”

-

Three years.

Three years he has lost, wasted away on some hospital bed plagued by bullshit nightmares – or he tells himself that's all they are.

He is surprised to find that his mother has stayed – it's the first time in his life she has been so loyal – but it somehow fills him with warmth the same.

“Abbiejean?” he says, fighting past a raw throat, “Seamus?”

He asks about his children because he knows that it is proper, but the last face of his nightmare still swims before his eyes and he wishes he could ask for Barry instead.

“They are well,” Malory replies.

There are tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. He realises she has never expected him to wake, and the thought doesn't scare him as much as it should.

-

A three year coma, it seems, has made him more tolerable to the point that he is almost popular – or he supposes he must be in the flurry of attention he receives within the next few days.

Pam sneaks him in a flask of whiskey and tries to fill him in on everything he has missed, but she herself is too smashed to make any kind of sense.

He thinks he might get more from Krieger, but he is too busy gushing since he has finally been able to marry his weird virtual wife. _You weren't here to ruin it this time_, he leaves unsaid.

Ray is more help, informing him that Cyril has somehow managed to reinstate their old ways – the Figgis Agency is no more a P.I agency, but a full-fledged espionage firm. His new boss is far too busy to visit, is the formal excuse, but Sterling knows that Cyril just doesn't care. He doesn't blame him, he would feel the same should the situation be reversed.

Lana has him worried that she wouldn't come at all, but she does in the end. She has traveled back from her new home in California to introduce him to his daughter. Abbiejean is a little girl now, with Sterling's eyes and Lana's attitude. She doesn't recognize him – she only knows him from his name and a picture or two.

It breaks his heart more than he thought it would, more so when she turns away from his open arms and buries herself against Lana's neck.

-

He knows that coming to the grave is a bad idea, but he does it anyway. He had known that he would never see Barry again when he'd gone in search of his mother, but he had never imagined that it would end like this.

It had taken weeks to build the courage, but finally he had asked Lana, who thankfully had decided to stick around, if they had ever heard from Barry Dylan again. She had given him a strange kind of look, like she had known exactly why he had asked, but had eventually told him that the cyborg had been gunned down by the C.I.A after a rampage across New York.

“So I guess you never did find what you were looking for,” Sterling feels the ghost of a smile across his own face, “You stupid bastard,”

He kneels in the grass, for once giving no care to his Armani suit, and presses a hand against the cool of the stone.

“I did tell you I wouldn't be the one to die,”

He doesn't cry. He only tells lies.

-

Three years.

Three years it takes to rebuild his life. Abbiejean is his little sidekick, and he knows she'll be as great a spy as her mother and her father both. Lana wears his ring, he has finally learned to be grown. It only took near forty years and a near-death experience. He's back to what he loves – what he is good at – with people he respects, even Cyril catches less of his disdain.

He is happy. But there is still something he must do.

There is no-one to leave flowers at the graveside, and no-one to clean the stone. Sterling brushes away the thin layer of moss and lets the roses thump to the ground. He takes a deep swig of whiskey, pours a stream across the stone.

He and Barry had their games, their broken rules, their wins and their losses, but somewhere beneath there was something deeper. Even now, with his shit together, Sterling can't really comprehend his feelings, but he knows they are there, and he can acknowledge them at least once a year.

“I'll come join you one day,” he promises the stone.

-

He'll join him one day, but not today.

**Author's Note:**

> So I finally watched the S10 finale and it inspired me to tack on a continuation to the Jackass series.  
Thanks to Alsvieth for commenting on the last installment - this one is dedicated to you!


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